By Cain S.B. No. 1734
77R7042 KKA-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to grants awarded by the commissioner of education to
1-3 promote pre-reading instruction.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 29.155, Education Code, as added by
1-6 Chapter 402, Acts of the 76th Legislature, Regular Session, 1999,
1-7 is redesignated as Section 29.157, Education Code, and is amended
1-8 to read as follows:
1-9 Sec. 29.157 [29.155]. READY TO READ GRANTS. (a) From funds
1-10 appropriated for the purpose, the commissioner shall make grants as
1-11 provided by this section to [in] support development of pre-reading
1-12 skills in children who are at least three years of age but younger
1-13 than six years of age [instruction].
1-14 (b) The commissioner shall establish a competitive grant
1-15 program for distribution of at least 95 percent of the available
1-16 appropriated funds. Grants shall be used to provide scientific,
1-17 research-based pre-reading instruction for the purpose of directly
1-18 improving pre-reading skills [and for identifying cost-effective
1-19 models for pre-reading intervention]. The pre-reading instruction
1-20 must be:
1-21 (1) based on an assessment of the needs of each
1-22 individual child; and
1-23 (2) provided in a full-day, year-round setting with an
1-24 appropriate teacher to student ratio that reflects the knowledge
2-1 that young children learn only in the context of relationships and
2-2 that learning activities for those children must be experiential to
2-3 be effective.
2-4 (c) The commissioner shall distribute the grants in amounts
2-5 not less than $100,000 [$50,000] or more than $500,000 [$150,000]
2-6 to eligible applicants to be used to implement new pre-reading
2-7 instruction programs or to enhance existing pre-reading instruction
2-8 programs. A new program or existing program, as enhanced, must
2-9 include components designed to enable a child to [for]:
2-10 (1) develop phonemic, print, and numeracy awareness,
2-11 with the ability to:
2-12 (A) recognize that letters of the alphabet are a
2-13 special category of visual graphics that can be individually named;
2-14 (B) recognize a word as a unit of print;
2-15 (C) identify at least 10 letters of the English
2-16 alphabet; and
2-17 (D) associate written words with thoughts and
2-18 objects;
2-19 (2) understand and use language to communicate a range
2-20 of feelings and purposes;
2-21 (3) understand and use an increasingly complex and
2-22 varied vocabulary;
2-23 (4) develop and demonstrate an interest in books; and
2-24 (5) progress toward mastery of the English language
2-25 or, if the child's primary language is not the English language,
2-26 become familiar with and progress toward mastery of the English
2-27 language [professional staff development in pre-reading
3-1 instruction;]
3-2 [(2) pre-reading curriculum and materials;]
3-3 [(3) pre-reading skills assessment materials; and]
3-4 [(4) employment of pre-reading instructors].
3-5 (d) [(c)] A public school operating a full-day, year-round
3-6 prekindergarten program, or an eligible entity as defined by
3-7 Section 12.101(a) that provides a full-day, year-round preschool
3-8 instruction program and that meets qualifications prescribed by the
3-9 commissioner, is eligible to apply for a grant if at least 75
3-10 percent of the children enrolled in the program are low-income
3-11 students, as determined by rule of the commissioner.
3-12 (e) [(d)] As a condition to receiving a grant, an applicant
3-13 must commit public or private funds matching the grant in an amount
3-14 equal to at least 20 percent [a percentage set by the commissioner.
3-15 The commissioner shall determine the required percentage of
3-16 matching funds based on the demonstrated economic capacity of the
3-17 community served by the program to raise funds for the purpose of
3-18 matching the grant, as determined by the commissioner. Matching
3-19 funds must equal at least 30 percent, but not more than 75
3-20 percent,] of the amount of the grant.
3-21 (f) [(e)] The commissioner shall develop and implement
3-22 performance measures for evaluating the effectiveness of grants
3-23 under this section. Those measures must correlate to other reading
3-24 diagnostic assessments used in public schools in kindergarten
3-25 through the second grade.
3-26 (g) [(f)] The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary for
3-27 the administration of this section.
4-1 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.